Students will examine the birth of the racial caste system following the abolition of slavery, the parallels between the racial hierarchy of the Jim Crow system and contemporary mass incarceration, and the rise of the prison industrial complex as a multi-billon business which thrives on the oppression of low-income populations and poor communities of color.

Prevailing thought suggests that we live in an era that is post-racial, particularly after the election of Barack Obama. Media often serves to drive our assessment of where our nation stands on issues like race, gender and sexuality. This course uses the film Get Out to delve into the production, evolution and significance of race in present day America. The course will engage multiple forms of media to investigate life in "Post-Racial" America, including but not limited to the role of stereotypes, interracial relationships, police-community relations, etc.

Examines the ways in which content and form of public information interact with the culture, families & individuals.

Are our diet and agricultural production methods sustainable? Students will investigate tensions created by trade-offs made by consumers relative to dietary choices which, in turn, can influence agricultural production methods. The course will inform students about their food supply so they can make informed dietary decisions and practice intentional/informed eating.

An examination of why climate changes, the methods for recording climate change, and case studies of the varied responses of past human societies to climate change in different geographic regions and time periods with varying socio-political and economic systems.

An examination of the phenomenon of international migration, or immigration. Students develop awareness of how immigration has been framed in the general public and examined by social science disciplines, most prominently anthropology. Examination of case studies of different immigrant groups in distinct geographic contexts will illuminate the varied incorporation experiences of immigrants into U.S. society.

An overview of the growing field of global health including health care systems, medical practices, ideas about illness in cross-cultural contexts, issues of health development, global health inequity, and human rights issues. The course will focus on the history of global health, the critique of major international health agencies and their development paradigms, and the political economy of social inequalities and health.

The impact of diseases on populations from prehistoric times through the present will be examined, along with public perceptions of disease, scientific breakthroughs on treatment and prevention, and the ways that politics and public health policies can enhance or impede the advancement of disease treatment. The natural history of disease, population structure, and immunity will be discussed. The class will address emerging and re-emerging diseases and the ways that first responders, researchers, and policy makers may affect the outcome of an outbreak.

Study of the major components of Earth's climate system and climate change history. Discussion of 21st century climate change prediction, mitigation and adaptation efforts.

What are weather and climate? Most people think they know but if you ask people to explain the differences and similarities you're bound to get a range of answers. Weather affects not just our daily activities but other important aspects of society such as transportation, commerce, security and agriculture. Most people understand what weather is to some extent. Climate and climate change are concepts that evoke strong emotional responses from people but are less well understood. In this class, students examine fundamental issues such as the greenhouse effect, severe weather, and global weather patterns and how they relate to a changing climate. Instruction in the lectures will provide the basic knowledge needed to understand these issues. In the discussion sections, students will be divided into groups to address the implications of these topics through group projects.

Explore the ways and the degrees to which University of Maryland, College Park campus master planning and operations incorporate principles of sustainability including smart growth, LEED and other building rating systems, higher education rating systems, sustainable agriculture and transportation planning. Among other subjects, students will learn about the Campus and the City of College Park and survey the relationship between local, national and global sustainability concerns. Students will learn about the University's Climate Action Plan and the roles, and extent to which, the UMD Office of Sustainability and other campus units are helping develop a carbon-neutral and resource-efficient campus infrastructure.

How can we feed a growing global population, reduce farming's environmental damage, and provide a healthier diet, all in the face of climate change? The course explores these global food system challenges in the context of the food supply chains that link farms, input providers, traders, food processors, retailers, consumers, and governments. We assess how supply chains are organized; how they use technologies; and how they can create organizations, develop new technologies, and adapt food production practices to meet these four major challenges facing the global food system.

The course serves as the core course for the Arts-and-Humanities track in PLCY's minor in "Nonprofit Leadership and Social Innovation." Students will be introduced to the role that the Arts and Humanities can play in social innovation and social change, while exploring various mechanisms for achieving impact with a focus on advancing social justice, equity and systems change. This course deepens understandings of nonprofit leadership, entrepreneurship and social innovation by guiding students through the creation and implementation of social change projects and ventures of their choice.

Can art effect social change? How may we use the history of radical and avant-garde art to inform present-day movements and models of artistic and creative activism? This course explores the modern and contemporary history of political art and arts activism on local, national, and global scales.

Why do societies create monuments? And why do they preserve and destroy, change and remove them? How do monuments embody cultural values, shape historical narratives, and become sites of mourning and memory? This course investigates the political and cultural work of monuments across time and space, from the ancient world to European empires to the contemporary United States. The issues we consider include intercultural exchange and religious contexts, race and representation, and appropriation and iconoclasm.

Combines a broad historical analysis of the relationship between art and authority with an examination of contemporary culture criticism and art practice. Explores the uses and abuses of art and culture in totalitarianand theocratic states as a prelude to a review of the role of official culture in the United States. Examines art and culture in the public arena and many related areas where the arts and policy interact.

Should we defend our planet against potential asteroid impacts? Collisions in Space will evaluate the threat of asteroid impacts with the Earth using knowledge of asteroid characteristics and orbits. The merits of possible defense plans will be discussed, as well as the budgetary and political concerns associated with implementing any such plan. Appropriate for non-science majors.

In this course, students will hear from real-life social entrepreneurs, explore current day social issues of sustainability, climate change, leadership, disruptive innovations, and create or blueprint business plans to generate positive social change. This class will focus on innovative thinking skills, personal narratives, and social interaction strategies and plans.

In this course, students will learn about: a) the innovation process and the role of the individual in generating innovations and b) the attributes, habits, and skills of individuals who have successfully started innovative new businesses or significantly added value to an existing company.

"Why" does fraud happen? "How" does society address fraud? And "What" can you do to avoid and prevent fraud in your personal and future career life? This course is designed to give future professionals and managers of all disciplines a general background of fraud. Topics include the psychology of fraud, the mechanics of fraud, the legal landscape, securities fraud, cybercrime, and what all of us should know to protect ourselves from becoming victims of fraud. Additionally, students experience 21st century lessons in fraud examination that have practical application to our daily lives: avoiding cognitive biases, interviewing techniques, basic business controls, and opening our minds to see what others might miss...the red flags of fraud.

In this course, students learn how to analyze the world around them and then notice and define new trends, emerging problems, impending gaps, and how to turn these into exciting opportunities by providing creative solutions. Students will have a chance to not only sharpen their critical thinking skills, but also learn how to take initiative, develop a working solution, identify and resolve conflicts, and be confident and persistent, yet flexible enough to respond to changes. Student teams identify a compelling problem in present day life and then propose a creative solution taking into account possible difficulties in implementation. In addition, students will also be given problems on a much smaller scale and asked to create and present a workable solution. Students will be exposed to how a visionary's mind works and the creative solution process. In addition, students will also learn how entrepreneurial thinking can improve their day-to-day life.

This course provides an overview of the concepts, approaches, and vocabulary of evidence-based management (EBM) and provides an understanding of how experts in many disciplines can employ evidenced based decision making. EBM is an emerging movement in business to explicitly use the current best information in management decision making with special emphasis on relevant scientific findings and unbiased organizational facts. The course stresses how individuals practicing EBM learn how to rethink their approaches to data and knowledge in order to make more effective decisions.

In what profound ways have plants changed humanity and the world we live in today? An interactive way to learn about plants and science, focusing on how plants have changed human history, the biology of their growth, and the science behind their use.

Could the ongoing global decline in insect populations portend the end of of, terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems? An article in the New York Times, in in, 2018, declared an "Insect Apocalypse" that for the first time brought the general, general,, unexplained declines in in insects to the public and suggested a catastrophe awaits awaits, our planet. Scientists have documented the loss of insect species at a rate rate, exceeding the extinction rates associated with the major geological events in in, Earth's history. Based on science and research, students will be provided with with, background, and discover on their own, the diversity of the form and functions of of, insects, as well as how they evolved and persisted for 400 million years. The The, course, designed for students of any major, celebrates the incredible variation of of, insect life and what they do to support life on our planet. The course will highlight highlight, the use of scientific research to understand and respond to the global crisis.

How have microorganisms exploited every conceivable ecological niche, and how have humans harnessed this diversity to improve medicine, agriculture, and biotechnology? The course covers fundamental concepts in morphology, physiology, genetics, immunology, ecology, and pathogenic microbiology. Applications of microbiology to medicine, the food industry, and biotechnology.

What makes microorganisms genetically, physiologically, and biochemically unique among organisms in the tree of life? An introduction to microorganisms designed for science majors. Genetic principles underlying microbial abilities; microbial structure-function relationships; metabolism, physiology, and ecology of microorganisms; interactions between microorganisms (including pathogens) and their hosts.

What is human trafficking and how do we stop it? An introduction to the trafficking of human beings in its historical, legal, economic, political and social contexts. Scope of the global problem, different forms of human trafficking, and regional trends and practices. Roles of government, the international community and individual actors. Strategies to combat trafficking.

Explores the cultural, historical, educational, and medical roots of difference among human beings and examines the impact of cultural and technological changes on individuals traditionally identified as disabled. The course is designed to develop a broad understanding of the concept of "disability" and the emerging technologies that shape contemporary understanding of this phenomenon and the lives of those considered disabled.

What are myths and why do we tell them? What powers do myths have? We will tackle these questions by looking at the enduring and fascinating myths from ancient Greece and Rome. In addition to studying how they shaped ancient societies, we will also look at their modern influence and reflect upon the power that myths still hold in our contemporary world. Taught in English.

America, from its very origins as an independent nation, saw itself as the new Rome: its system of government is built on Roman precedents, its national buildings look as if they came from the Roman Forum, and its leisure activities take us to stadiums modeled on the Colosseum. America's relationship to Rome, however, raises its greatest anxiety: will America fall as Rome did? In 1776, the year of American independence, Edward Gibbon published his History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire; America has been thinking about the trajectory of its history alongside Rome's from the very beginning.

This course explores whether and how generative AI can be developed to support human values and promote human autonomy, and how the context of the deployment of AI may impact answers to this question. Entire industries are being transformed by AI technology, much of which is driven by the recent meteoric advances in generative AI. These advances have enabled many people to do things they previously were incapable of but have also brought about a series of ethical questions around their development and use. These developments raise fundamental questions around whether it is even possible to develop generative AI technology that empowers rather than replaces people, and which serves human values such as rights, justice, and dignity. It also raises the question: Is generative AI different from other technologies that can be used toward both positive and negative ends?

Explores contemporary theories of influence and their implications for communication practice. Topics include power and influence, logical theory, rhetorical theory, persuasion theory, framing theory, social influence theory, and propagation of influence in mediated social networks.

Exploration and understanding of ways science and technology shape and are shaped by society.

Supervised Service-Learning practicum in issues related to science, technology and society.

Will we face an energy crisis in the near future, or will technological breakthroughs solve problems? Will we destroy the environment by careless use of polluting energy, or we will find new and clean sources of energy that resolves the environmental issue once and for all? Will politicians and governments succeed in agreeing on a coherent strategy to deal with global issues related to energy, or do we expect individual countries to move in different directions and exacerbate the problems? Students will explore the demand and supply sides of the energy market and their relationships with government policies and environmental concerns. Students will also analyze empirical evidence to better understand the factors affecting energy production and consumption in the past and possible directions in the future. By examining past situations when technological change mitigated problems in energy markets, we can make informed predictions about what could happen next.

Investigation linking research in the brain science of learning and development, including the neural basis of academic skills, to achievement, disability, and broader applications to classroom learning. This course will focus on areas of education including language (spoken and written), conceptual change, numerical/quantitative processing, and social cognition as well as burgeoning areas of neuroscientific research in general cognitive processes such as attention, memory, and executive processing. These topics will be discussed with respect to typical and atypical development with some focus on developmental disabilities including autism, specific language impairment, reading and math impairment, and attention deficit disorders among others. This course will focus on both the theoretical perspectives and pragmatic issues of how evidence regarding brain development can or may be translated into useful or misleading information for educators, professionals, and parents/guardians of our children.

What makes a technology socially responsible? At UMD, the Fearless Ideas campaign asks us to aim our enthusiasm for technology at big real problems. At the same time, we are coming to appreciate the increasingly complex nature of technological systems as they become integrated into all forms of infrastructure, we realize they may be unpredictable, interdependent on social and biological systems, and have unintended consequences. In this midst of this complexity, people make decisions with far reaching impacts. How then do we follow our passion for technology and innovation but also stay skeptical in a way that allows us to consider the potential and shortcomings of technology? Designed for both engineering and non-engineering students wishing to explore and assess the impact of engineering technology on society and the role of society in generating that technology.

What makes a technology socially responsible? At UMD, the Fearless Ideas campaign asks us to aim our enthusiasm for technology at big real problems. At the same time, we are coming to appreciate the increasingly complex nature of technological systems as they become integrated into all forms of infrastructure, we realize they may be unpredictable, interdependent on social and biological systems, and have unintended consequences. In this midst of this complexity, people make decisions with far reaching impacts. How then do we follow our passion for technology and innovation but also stay skeptical in a way that allows us to consider the potential and shortcomings of technology? Designed for both engineering and non-engineering students wishing to explore and assess the impact of engineering technology on society and the role of society in generating that technology.

This multi-disciplinary course helps students learn the principles of entrepreneurial opportunity analysis and decision-making in an increasingly dynamic and technically-inclined society. Emphasis is placed on how aspiring technology entrepreneurs can develop their entrepreneurial perspectives to develop winning entrepreneurial plans for their future ventures.

Asks students to think about how society should manage complexity, transformation, and uncertainty with an eye on developing a broader sense of ethics and social responsibility. Introduces analytical frameworks, concepts, and data collection techniques that interdisciplinary scholars use to map relationships among science, technology and society and generate important questions about the future of society.

Poetry is most often understood as self-expression; it's also communal expression, and cultural expression; it's also a particular kind of construction made out of language. Explore the art form called poetry, including its formal properties, its conventions, and its legacy of experimentation. What role does poetry play in how we think about the human condition; what constitutes knowledge and wisdom, interior subjectivity and collective identity; and how shall this knowledge be used in confronting new challenges and the perennial questions: how to live with oneself, and as oneself; in time, and with others; here, where we reside; and elsewhere, where we imagine ourselves going. This is a hands-on course in reading and practicing the art of poetry, including short critical and creative writing exercises.

What does the literature of Maryland teach us about our state's past, present, and future? "Literary Maryland" explores this question by taking students on a tour of our state's prose, poetry, and drama from colonization to the present. In addition to reading fascinating writing and visiting interesting places, you'll learn how the Chesapeake was formed; why nobody sings the entire national anthem; and what led Baltimore to name its football team after a poem written by a Virginian.

Explores how technology and people shape our current age of information through the various forms of visually representing information. Visualizations do not show us things that are evident--visualizations make things evident. We will thus examine the history of visualization practices, the theories of image-making that guide their production, and the current state of the art. Students will engage critically with a wide range of information visualization practices to gain an understanding of the work involved in producing them and their histories. Students will also seek out contemporary visualizations, interact with the practitioners who produce them, and produce their own visualization as a response or critique.

Examination of the lawn as an element in the anthropogenic landscape and its influence on global warming, regional air and water quality, ecological diversity, mammalian pesticide exposure and consumptive water use. Demographic and socioeconomic factors are examined in the context of being predictors of landscape aesthetic desires and lawn management behaviors. Policies that incentivize lawn alternatives or changes in lawn management behavior are discussed.

An examination of changing fatherhood roles, health, and inequality in diverse families. Focus will be on masculinities and disparities among men by race and class; provider role expectations; and trauma and violence faced by men in contemporary society.

An examination of how cultural, economic, political and social forces shape scientific and technological systems and, conversely, how scientific and technological systems have affected the culture, economies, organization and politics of societies. Students in the course will form small teams to carry out semester-long research on socio/technical topics related to the course theme chosen for that specific semester.

Catastrophic Environmental Events (CCE) that are becoming more common in this time of global environmental change and it is essential that today's students be equipped with the knowledge and skills to be leaders as we, as a society, understand the upheaval that these CCEs are causing. Students will examine how CEEs shape human society and ecosystem from the interdisciplinary perspective afforded by the field of Geography. Students will use the latest geographic science concepts and techniques in exploring these events. Using satellite imagery they will gain a multi-scale perspective of the ecological and societal aspects of the events.

Earth observations from space enable the mapping and monitoring of our changing planet. This survey course reviews current observational capabilities and examines scientific applications in quantifying global environmental change. Drivers and outcomes of key dynamics will be illustrated and discussed, including sea and continental ice loss, deforestation, ocean warming, urbanization, agricultural expansion and intensification, and vegetation response to climate change.

Study of the major components of Earth's climate system and climate change history. Discussion of 21st century climate change prediction, mitigation and adaptation efforts.

What good is the fossil record? What relevance or insights might the remains of ancient living things have for our modern world? This course examines how the record of ancient life was made, and how we use diverse scientific techniques to reveal the information it contains. We will look at how the various inhabitants of our planet changed through time, and how different ecosystems such as reefs, forests, and grasslands were assembled. We will see how our own species came to be, and of our spread across the world from our ancestral home in Africa. We'll examine how the fossil record contains evidence of climate changes and extinction events far exceeding what we are currently experiencing, and how we can use these as warnings for our future. We'll address who are the owners and stakeholders in the evidence of the fossil world. Students will learn how to read and interpret the primary scientific literature, and how to present scientific information to others through various media.

An introduction to the persistent challenge of authoritarianism. The course explores the nature of authoritarianism and its evolution from ancient through modern times. Students will study how authoritarian regimes vary, why citizens sometimes comply with them, and when and how citizens rebel. The course concludes with a review of contemporary authoritarianism, focusing on its resilience in the Middle East and East Asia and its potential for a resurgence in the US and Europe.

The problem with decisions is that we rarely, if ever, find out if our decisions were good or bad. Was choosing your major, for instance, a good decision or could you have made a better one? I don't think most of us would ever know the answer to this question. So, is it possible that we regularly make bad decisions but don't know that we do? And, if so, how can we fix something if we don't know it is broken? In fact, we do regularly make bad decisions. This has been shown in many experimental studies some of which will be covered in this class. What is more, for some types of decision problems we are hardwired to make mistakes. This means that we are bound to go wrong regardless of how much we know or how smart we are. So, what can we do to remedy this problem? Quite a bit, as it turns out.

In today's interconnected digital world, cybersecurity has become one of the most important issues confronting organizations in both the private and public sectors of an economy. Indeed, cybersecurity is a national and economic security priority in countries throughout the world. This is an interdisciplinary Honors Seminar offered as part of UMD's ACES program. The primary objective of this course is to discuss the relationships among accounting, economics and cybersecurity, with a focus on the important roles of accounting and economics in understanding the issues related to cybersecurity. A basic framework for assessing the interactions among accounting, economics, and cybersecurity will be developed and discussed. A secondary objective of the course is to assist ACES students in developing their ability to conduct original and applied research on topics related to "accounting and economic aspects of cybersecurity."

How does the human mind use language? Type "Language Science News" into your Google search bar. Among the more than 3 billion hits, headlines like "What is love? It depends what language you speak" and "Science's English dominance hinders diversity" invite you to think about the impact of words on thought and behavior. These are stories about how humans acquire and use language, but they ultimately address big questions about how we experience knowledge itself. In a world of unprecedented access to science journalism, did you ever read a headline about human behavior and wonder: How do we know? This class takes up the elegant ways cognitive scientists design experiments to answer crucial questions about language and thought, brain and behavior, that have no intuitive answers. Students will dive deep into the media coverage of their favorite claims about what we know, debate the psychological science behind these claims, and develop transferable critical-thinking skills in the process.

An introduction to the theories of the everyday within the context of the American built environment. Focuses primarily on the American experience of underrepresented, minority, and/or immigrant communities; both historical and contemporary. Attempts to challenge what is meant by American in describing the American everyday built environment.

An introduction to the way Americans thought of themselves in the past, and their often conflicting visions of what constituted the American Dream. Central questions will include whether or not Americans have always envisioned their country as a land of equality, opportunity, democracy, and freedom and whether or not their ideas of what these values meant changed or remained the same over time.

How is the American Revolution a creation story in the making of our multi-cultural and interconnected modern world? Consider the Declaration of Independence. When first published on July 5, 1776, it was printed by an immigrant Irishman on Dutch paper that had been brought over from England. This was the first such declaration of independence ever issued, but its ideas and forms traveled far and wide. More than 100 other declarations of independence have been issued since then. The people that declaration mobilized are similarly diverse: the American Revolution is as much the story of Creek farmers, Spanish soldiers, French slaves, Canadian fugitives, Indian tea-growers, and African statesmen as it is of the Minutemen and Sons of Liberty. In this globe-trotting class, students will be positioned to debate how the familiar story of the American Revolution changes when we place it in transnational context.

For 800 years, medieval Spain was home to one of the most religiously diverse societies in European history. Despite frequent hostilities, the interactions of Spanish Jews, Christians, and Muslims produced a flowering of science, theology, and literature in an often remarkably tolerant climate. Students will learn how medieval Spanish people themselves experienced interreligious contact and conflict. They will also discover the modern pressures, prejudices, and ideals that have shaped historians interpretations of medieval Spain.

Why do particular issues about sexuality hold such an important place in American political debates? What animates these controversies and what can a historical perspective on these issues add to our understanding of modern sexual politics? This class explores the historical sexual politics that undergird contemporary debates concerning sexuality in America. It focuses on topics that garner significant public attention - Reproductive rights - LGBTQ rights - Sexting - and explores the histories that undergird Americans disagreements.

This course seeks to understand the on-going crisis over national identity and purpose by examining the many factors that go into the big stew known as America.

What does it mean to be free in the United States? The concept of freedom was embedded in the nation's political culture in the Declaration of Independence, and it has remained a cherished and contested ideal. We can interrogate this concept through the life and times of Frederick Douglass (1818-1895), who dreamed eloquently of freedom, thought carefully about its limits, and worked ardently to build a firmer freedom for a broader population. With Douglass as our guide, we will examine the survival of slavery in a nation built on freedom, images of the expanding United States as a land of opportunity, and the complex meanings and tremendous costs of freedom struggles during the nineteenth century. This history will push you to think critically about the contested concepts that shape our lives, and to consider the values and the perils of a society that positions freedom as its highest ideal.

What is at stake for our world as humans seek to redesign biological organisms? Biotechnology advances are enabling us to read, edit and write genomes, including our own. This revolution has been fueled by the quest to understand and cure disease. Yet, these innovations have far-reaching consequences beyond medicine and will reshape our world in ways we can only imagine - or fear. The course will challenge students to confront the risks and rewards for them, their family, their community, and their future, as biotechnology moves out of specialized laboratories and into homes. A demystifying, low-tech approach will introduce them to contemporary genome redesign, clarifying the current limitations and future goals of the field. Students will debate whether redesigning plants and animals will enhance or inhibit momentum in human genome engineering, and formulate their own arguments about who should be able to use these tools and where, who decides, and how much society is willing to risk.

If we believe that racism is bad, why do we still support racist policies? No matter how hard we work to end it, the challenge of racism seems here to stay. Though attitudes toward racial segregation in schools have changed, schools are more racially isolated than ever. There is a disconnect in American public life between support for the idea of equality and resistance to policies aimed at addressing racism, and a deep divide over how to eliminate inequality. This course focuses on public opinion and how these attitudes inform public policy. Can we address systemic inequality through public engagement and by changing the national narrative with the support of evidence? Does change come from shifting views or shifting policies? Students will explore these issues through a case study on racial equity in the Honors College. By developing skills in evidence-based op-ed writing and survey-based experiments, students will add their voices to these pressing public debates of our time.

What will the farm of the future look like? Our current food system is plagued with paradoxes. An estimated 41.2 million Americans are classified as food insecure, but we produce 4,000 calories per person per day. Between 2008 and 2012, 1.6 million acres of long-term grasslands were converted to crop production, yet more than 350,000 acres of farmland were lost to development annually. This course will investigate what determines the food we eat and how we can make changes today that will improve both food access and the environment for future generations. Students will learn agribusiness, as well as alternative food movements and regenerative agriculture. They will meet experts from the USDA and Maryland producers. By growing their own vegetables, tracking food consumption, and exploring family history linked to farming, students will leave the course as conscious consumers empowered to navigate food system reform.

How does poverty shape the relationship between humans and their environment? It may seem obvious that being poor in childhood has enduring effects on development. What is less obvious is how experiencing poverty in childhood shapes relationships between children and their surroundings, including family interactions, peer relationships, adult dynamics, and the health of the community. Less clear still is the extent to which positive interactions with caretakers and social supports can protect children from potential harm as they grow up. This course focuses on the complexity of poverty as a social force and community concern. Students will investigate the nature of poverty through an interdisciplinary lens that includes social theory, developmental psychology, and empirical studies. After analyzing various approaches to the study of child poverty, students will be in a position to use research on parenting and poverty to evaluate public policy and social programs in their own backyard.

What traction does the past have in society today? This course explores globally how the past gains traction in society today and becomes remade in the present. That inquiry will be guided by the idea of heritage, as it mobilizes the past within a broad spectrum of social, political, economic, and environmental issues. We will examine western relationships to the past as intimately tied to property and the drive to plunder, collect, and catalogue. Increasingly, conceptions of heritage include landscapes, as well as intangibles such as music, dance, and folklore. This broad definition honors the diversity of present-day relations to the past, even as it strains heritage management models that are organized around definitions and regulations, and bear the weight of historical injustice. Close examination of heritage at work within global crisis and struggle prompts questions on who owns the past, and who owns up to it. What do we owe the past, and will we be good ancestors to the future?

How do ordinary citizens power democracy? At the age of 18, every American citizen is endowed with the right to vote, but what if democracy demands more than voting? With democratic processes seemingly in peril all around us, what can and should ordinary citizens do to safeguard democracy? Looking beyond the basic right to vote, this class will instead explore the complex ecosystem of citizenship practices necessary for collective self-governance. Turning to both philosophy and history, the course material addresses the power and peril of such civic habits as mutual aid, economic participation, tolerance, attention, organizing, protest, and more. We consider what resources these habits require, what virtues they inspire, and what happens when they conflict with each other. Students in this course will acquire the tools to develop and act on their own answer to the pressing question of what it will take to save democracy.

Can humanity thrive without ensuring reproductive freedom? The 2022 US Supreme Court decision that the right to an abortion is unconstitutional has generated impassioned debate about women's rights and access to reproductive health care in the US and globally. This debate opens space to think beyond "pro-choice or pro-life" polarization and create conditions that promote equity, respect for rights, and a healthy society. These conditions would need to address injustices such as the racism, gender inequalities, marginalization, and colonization that produce disparities in reproductive health care and jeopardize the well-being of individuals, families, communities, and countries. Who controls the bodies of marginalized women and men? What is the meaning of reproductive rights for people who have little power? This course challenges students to bring together multiple disciplines, become critical data consumers, and develop innovative ways to use this knowledge to influence policy.

What is design, who does it, and how is it done? There is no one answer to this question--it depends on who you ask. The answers to these questions vary across disciplines and across the University campus. This course, designed with modules from contributors in UMD programs including Information Studies, Human-Computer Interaction, Graphic Design, Immersive Media Arts, Journalism, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Engineering, and Policy, will introduce students to the goals and values, approaches, skills, and practices of diverse fields of design. It will enable students to identify grand challenges in design and serve as a sorting hat to help students find a design practice that matches their own values, approaches, skills and goals.

Examines Apollo mission, one of the greatest engineering accomplishments of all time, in which Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. Since the mission, people have asked: if we can land on the moon, why can't we eliminate poverty? Why can't we cure cancer? Why can't we prevent global warming? Asks what were the social, political, financial, scientific, engineering, operational, and human aspects of the Apollo program that came together to make the moon landings possible?

Introduces methods for analyzing and understanding how people use social media - social networking websites, blogging and microblogging, and other forms of online interaction and content generation - and their societal implications. Introduces students to the science and social science of network analysis. Through real world examples, including analysis of their own social networks, students develop skills for describing and understanding the patterns and usage of services like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and others.

Reviews how specific values are built into different automated decision-making systems as an inevitable result of constructing mechanisms meant to produce specific outcomes. These values create differential outcomes for the different people enmeshed in these systems, but both these values and these systems can be changed to support different values and different outcomes. The class serves as an introduction to the emerging field of algorithmic bias that bridges the disciplines of information science, computer science, law, policy, philosophy, sociology, urban planning, and others.

How has social media changed the world, and how has the world changed social media? This course explores how social media has influenced relationships, culture, industry, politics, and the information environment, as well as how significant global events and technological advancements have contributed to the evolution of social media. This course gives students a broad contextual understanding of social media that they may apply in their daily lives as well as future academic inquiry.

What role should the American news media play when the United States is at war? Students will explore the realities of war through the work of journalists who pushed beyond the daily headlines, some risking life and limb, to challenge official versions and document uncomfortable realities about American conflicts.

What are the ingredients of a juicy scandal? Money? Sex? Power? How are scandals uncovered? Why does society punish some scoundrels but not others? Come explore both serious and salacious scandals with a professor who's an expert in both--and who once exposed many scandals himself when he was an investigative reporter. This class examines scandals in politics, science, religion, social media, business, government, sports, and higher education; feeding frenzies, tabloid scandalmongering, undercover reporting, apologies, and cancel culture. Learn why even trivial scandals matter--and how scandals reflect what we value and ultimately who we are.

In a mobile social media world with unlimited amounts of digital information available on demand, what does the future hold for a population that spends hours on their devices seeking, selecting, and sharing more entertaining content than critical information about national and world issues? This course explores innovative ways for producing digital content and engaging diverse audiences with important topics, such as those related to every student's major. Students also utilize new metric tools to answer the question asking how today's digital audiences consume various forms of media and content.

The course serves as the core course for the Arts-and-Humanities track in PLCY's minor in "Nonprofit Leadership and Social Innovation." Students will be introduced to the role that the Arts and Humanities can play in social innovation and social change, while exploring various mechanisms for achieving impact with a focus on advancing social justice, equity and systems change. This course deepens understandings of nonprofit leadership, entrepreneurship and social innovation by guiding students through the creation and implementation of social change projects and ventures of their choice.

Has sport disadvantaged African American males? This course critically examines sport as a site where notions of black masculinity are publicly debated, critiqued, challenged, celebrated, and also transformed. Utilizing an interdisciplinary approach, this course explores how sport has been invoked across the political and ideological spectrum to interrogate a number of issues impacting the life chances of young, African Americans males including educational attainment, poverty, social mobility, racism, cultural production, and notions of masculinity.

Students will examine the growing development of urban agriculture and edible landscapes. Urban agriculture has seen a recent growth and interest in cities across the globe. From Paris to New York, from Baltimore to Detroit, urban agriculture is an emerging land use to address a variety of needs. Redevelopment, food deserts, community engagement and environmental justice are just some of the issues and topics that are connected to the recent growth of urban agriculture. This course will take a critical examination of urban agriculture's contribution to the food system, its input and outputs in the urban landscape, and the planning and design of urban agriculture and edible landscapes.

Examines the nature of mental representation of language in the physiology of the mind/brain, how it evolved, how it emerges in learners' minds, and how it decays through injury and illness. Insights from linguistics, cognitive psychology, neuroscience, animal behavior, molecular biology, and biophysics are brought to bear on how an abstract systematic behavior can arise within an animal brain.

An exploration of the theoretical questions relating to such fundamental questions of jurisprudence as "what is law?" and "how can law be deployed as both an enemy and ally of justice?

Integrates an intellectual exploration of Western moral traditions and ethical philosophy with military leadership, core values, the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and Navy regulations. The course provides students with a basic understanding of major moral traditions including Relativism, Utilitarianism, Kantian Ethics, Natural Law Theory, Divine Command Theory, and Virtue Ethics.

If diet is such a straightforward topic, then why and how does this simple matter result in complicated health problems? This course delves deeply into a Big Question at the intersection of diet and health. Diet is a topic that most people know but few people understand. In addition, diet has become one of the most important lenses for looking at a variety of social, economic, and cultural issues. Since the concept of diet is a continuum and has multifaceted aspects, we need to understand it from broad and multidisciplinary perspectives including social, cultural, and economic aspects.

How do we improve our decision making? Cognitive science demonstrates that self-knowledge isn't as easy as we think, and that there are numerous biases and fallacies that impact our decision-making in ways that are hard for us to be aware of. In this course you will learn what some of these are and how they have been discovered, and you will explore potential strategies for avoiding these fallacies and for making wiser choices.

Virtually everyone thinks it's permissible to kill people only in special circumstances. But why is killing usually wrong? Is it ever acceptable to kill an innocent human being intentionally? This course raises these and related questions and examines cases such as terrorism, suicide, abortion, euthanasia, the death penalty, war. Except for a brief discussion of animals, all the controversies considered deal with killing and causing death to human beings.

Things happen routinely in sports that would seem morally unacceptable in other context: violence between the participants, attempts to trick the referee, fans hoping that some players would do embarrassingly badly, spectators feeling anger towards whole nations. Nonetheless, all of this may seem reasonable and even justifiable within a sporting context. This course will investigate the ethical structure of sports, and what it tells us about the ethics of everyday life. Philosophy will provide the primary disciplinary context, but we will also think about sociological, legal and anthropological perspectives on sports. Issues will include the nature of sportsmanship, what types of violence in sports are acceptable, drug use in sports, what it means to be a fan (for example, asking why loyalty to your team is valuable) and how our view of sports interacts with our view of nations. By the end of the course you should have gained familiarity with a variety of ethical concepts and a sensitivity to the ethical issues in sports. You should also find that by thinking about morality in the context of sports, you will look at larger ethical issues in new ways.

Advances in quantum information science and engineering (QISE), particularly quantum computing, have the potential to significantly disrupt and change the day-to-day lives of every person. In this course, we'll learn about the confluence of engineering, physics, and computer science that make this field so promising and develop tools to make sense of the scientific, societal, and ethical implications of these emerging technologies. Students will study, in depth, applications of QISE that are of particular and personal interest to share with others how they envision navigating a facet of day-to-day life that has been disrupted by advances in QISE. No prior background in STEM required. This course is only open to non-STEM majors.

Great ideas in public policy, such as equality, efficiency, sovereignty, liberty, bureaucracy, democracy and security are explored through the lens of great thinkers. An introduction to the intellectual foundations of public policy, from ancient theories on collective public action through the more contemporary development of public policy as a discipline. This may start as early as the ancient Greek philosophers and their views on public action through contemporary classics of public policy. At the conclusion of the course, students will have read classic works in the field and will master the key themes that have dominated the intellectual debates about public policy over its history. Emphasis will be on the interdisciplinary foundations of public policy, through examining core disciplinary contributions from economics, political science, management, philosophy, and other relevant disciplines.

Aims to inspire, teach and engage students in the theory and practice of public leadership from the local to the national to the global level. Students will learn and apply diverse approaches to leadership in a multicultural society while developing an understanding of key frameworks and practices necessary to foster collective action across private, public, and nonprofit sectors. This course will allow students to become informed citizens able to reason critically and persuasively about public matters Students will also explore and assess their own personal values, beliefs, and purpose as they develop their leadership potential.

Asks students to think about how society should manage complexity, transformation, and uncertainty with an eye on developing a broader sense of ethics and social responsibility. Introduces analytical frameworks, concepts, and data collection techniques that interdisciplinary scholars use to map relationships among science, technology and society and generate important questions about the future of society.

Introduces students to the concept of social innovation while exploring the many mechanisms for achieving social impact. It is team-based, highly interactive and dynamic, and provides an opportunity for students to generate solutions to a wide range of problems facing many communities today. Deepens the students understanding of entrepreneurship and innovation practices by guiding them through the creation and implementation process as applied to a project idea of their choice.

Examination of the lawn as an element in the anthropogenic landscape and its influence on global warming, regional air and water quality, ecological diversity, mammalian pesticide exposure and consumptive water use. Demographic and socioeconomic factors are examined in the context of being predictors of landscape aesthetic desires and lawn management behaviors. Policies that incentivize lawn alternatives or changes in lawn management behavior are discussed.

What are the secrets to living a happy life? Can happiness be found within the context of war, a depressed economy, violence and other major stressors? Are some people born happier than others? This course will teach you the scientific process that psychologists use to study happiness (and related emotional variables) and give you the opportunity to practice applying that process in a number of ways. You will learn how we (a) gather and critically evaluate research findings in the existing literature, (b) integrate those findings into coherent and testable theories, (c) design and conduct valid scientific research that tests those theories and extends our knowledge, and (d) effectively communicate our theories and findings to a wide range of audiences. The result of the process is a more accurate and objective understanding of happiness, and that is what prepares you to apply your scientific understanding to explain and influence a wide range of outcomes.

What are myths and why do we tell them? What powers do myths have? We will tackle these questions by looking at the enduring and fascinating myths from ancient Greece and Rome. In addition to studying how they shaped ancient societies, we will also look at their modern influence and reflect upon the power that myths still hold in our contemporary world. Taught in English.

Draws upon examples from a wide variety of religious traditions to explore the question of what religion is and how to best understand it. Engagement with diverse approaches to religion including phenomenology and the study of "the sacred"; sociology and the study of religious communities; and questions of religious experience, ritual, and identity formation.

For 800 years, medieval Spain was home to one of the most religiously diverse societies in European history. Despite frequent hostilities, the interactions of Spanish Jews, Christians, and Muslims produced a flowering of science, theology, and literature in an often remarkably tolerant climate. Students will learn how medieval Spanish people themselves experienced interreligious contact and conflict. They will also discover the modern pressures, prejudices, and ideals that have shaped historians interpretations of medieval Spain.

The central theme is the abiding human propensity to ask questions, to use language to pursue inquiry. To be a "critical thinker," one must develop the habit and discipline of asking questions and challenging assumptions. Through a comparative approach to the US and Russian experiences, we will explore the role of language and its power in different political and social systems. We will explore such questions as: Why is free speech so fiercely defended in a democracy and such a threat to totalitarianism? What is the relationship between free speech, political power and dissent? Is the pen still mightier than the sword, even in the nuclear age? What has shaped our current attitudes toward freedom of expression? How has the concept of political free speech been extended to include freedom of expression in general, such as in the creative arts? What role do new technologies play in the arena of free speech debates? We will explore how freedom of speech and expression has been defended or its suppression justified in the US and Russia. We will practice the art of questioning and constructing counter-arguments throughout the course.

Confucius, Mencius, Zhuangzi and other Chinese thinkers who lived more than 2,000 years ago would argue that the contemporary Western emphasis on self-discovery (Find yourself) and self-acceptance has led you astray. See what they have to say and discuss what relevance it has for the modern world as we study how early Chinese thinkers wrestled with questions of existence, morality, and governance. No previous knowledge of Chinese philosophy and history will be assumed and no prerequisites are required. We will discuss ideas that are both historical and relevant to students' lives. What is "the Way"? How do we cultivate spontaneity? Is there a stable self? How can we be more alive? These are questions important for ancient kings but also for UMD students choosing a major, or wondering how ARHU can benefit them.

We will explore the nature of human societies through comparative, historical, and interdisciplinary perspectives. Students will delve into the core of social structures, unravel the defining components of society, and examine their organization, evolution, and impact on collective existence. Students will also explore the socio-historical forces and geopolitical dynamics that drive social change to analyze the complex connections that illuminate our shared social experience across time.

Explore and discuss the major debates and assumptions that construct perceptions of race and how it matters. Sociological and social science theories will give students a historical and present day frame with which to view race and ethnic relations in the twenty-first century.

Interrogate musical theater's political history, investigating how this uniquely American genre uses narrative, song, and dance to weave critical differences across race, ethnicity, immigration status, religion, gender, sexuality, and ability into our national fabric.

Every society has rebels - those who refuse to conform to the mainstream's rigid rules, aesthetics, and beliefs. From unruly skateboarders, punk rockers, bohemian poets, and radical theater performers, to national revolutionary movements and brick-throwing anarchists - such groups form niches that are defined by their exclusion from society. We will look at how their beliefs and actions fit into a particular historical context, and how their actions drive social change.